


jetlagged heart

by figure8



Category: K-pop, SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Character Study, Drabble, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:34:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26373565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/figure8/pseuds/figure8
Summary: It’s midnight where Minghao is, which means that Junhui is about to wake.
Relationships: Wen Jun Hui | Jun/Xu Ming Hao | The8
Comments: 7
Kudos: 97





	jetlagged heart

**Author's Note:**

> drabble originally posted on tumblr, but i wanted it here for easy access. we are continuing a long tradition of ao3 user figure8 coping with Things(tm) by 8junning them. cheers!

It’s midnight where Minghao is, which means that Junhui is about to wake. Sure enough, his phone vibrates on the nightstand. A short sound, repeated thrice. Minghao’s lips stretch into a smile unwitting, learned motion. It is pavlovian, at this point. He does not have to pick up the smartphone to guess— the ritual is extremely formulaic. _i’m up_ , followed by the smiling cat emoji, and then _you know_.

Minghao does know. He appreciates that Junhui does not type it out. It is entirely for Minghao’s benefit; Junhui believes love grows in power with every utterance, like a god nourished by belief. Minghao used to think there were words reserved for special occasions, like fine china. These days it is less that he believes sentences can be crystal and more that he is easily embarrassed. _It’s hard for me to say it_ , he had whispered in the very beginning, when he and Junhui still shared breathing space.

“Why?” Junhui had asked. The question had been genuine— Junhui is many things but never an asshole. “Do you think saying it cheapens it?”

“No.” Minghao had shaken his head. There had been no words, then, for the fossilized fear between his ribs. If I tell you then you can hurt me with it. What a fool he had been. He understands now it was never the verbalization that threatened him.

He grabs his cellphone from the table. _I love you,_ he sends back. He thinks he can feel Junhui then, his body on the mattress next to Minghao where it should be. _I love you,_ he tells the empty pillow. Places his palm open and warm on the cotton and pictures Junhui with such intensity that for a second he blinks and he is in Shanghai, and then he blinks again and he is back in New York, facing a wall.

**Author's Note:**

> i’m on [twitter](https://www.twitter.com/junmotions) as always, if you are so inclined, and also on [tumblr](https://lgbtmazight.tumblr.com) although that’s more for fictional fandoms these days. 
> 
> i always love hearing from you! hope everyone is doing well in these troubling times ❤️


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